For Real, This Time: The DVD is available!

Despite all the delays, the DVD is officially out and available now. I have mine, which I received last week from the Film Threat store. And Amazon and Barnes & Noble both have copies now, so any others that still have it listed as "on backorder" should quickly follow suit. (Netflix will have it soon too, for those who are curious but don't want to purchase.)

There is a LOT of bonus material on this thing, much of which I haven't even seen yet. It will take ME a while to wade through it all, so I find it hard to imagine who among the general population will actually be interested in all of it. The phenomenon of the "Special Edition DVD" has meant basically meant that I get very excited about all the Bonus Features on the DVDs of my favorite movies, but it's rare that I actually get around to watching most of them.

As promised, here is a list of movies I WISH that Amazon would include in their "similar items" listings (which, incidentally, have once again vanished from our movie's page):


DONNIE DARKO-- this film doesn't really have too many similarities to our film, admittedly. But it does have one BIG connection in that it also features a terrific performance by Holmes Osborne as Eddie Darko (Donnie Darko's dad). Holmes plays Uncle Roy in our film, and it is worth checking out for his characterization alone....


SIDEWAYS-- another dark and funny comedy about two friends whose lives are spinning out of control. Plus Paul Giamatti sports a similar beard to the one I have in the film....


CHUCK & BUCK-- Variety mentioned this film when reviewing ours, which I was very happy about. I think it's a wonderful movie, and it has a similarly bleak and awkward tension from start to finish. The first time I saw this film, I knew almost nothing about the storyline, and there is moment in the first half hour that contains one of the most surprising developments I've ever seen in a movie.


AMERICAN JOB-- Chris Smith directed the terrific documentary American Movie, and I happened to catch this earlier feature of his on late night television in Great Britain some years back. I assumed it was also a documentary, and was convinced it WAS one for the first ten or twenty minutes, until I suddently realized that there was NO WAY they could have had so many cameras set up to capture everywhere the main character was going (out of his car, into a building, into an office-- they were ready for him anywhere.) The slow realization that this was a scripted film with actors was both disorienting and exciting, as the film is so painfully real and completely convincing in its portrait of an awkward young man shuffling from job to job in a haze of dissatisfaction and gloom. It is one of the best films I've ever seen, and it is a crime that it isn't available on DVD. (Only on VHS from the website at Americanmovie.com)


MODERN ROMANCE-- Albert Brooks has written and directed some of the Greatest Films Ever Made, and this one might be his finest achievement. Yet it remains his only film to never be released on DVD. Stanley Kubrick loved it, and went so far as to call Brooks personally to ask him how he did it, saying he had wanted to make a film like this for years. In a just world, there would be a Criterion DVD release featuring audio commentary by Brooks and his writing partner, Monica Johnson. In the meantime, it is only available on VHS.


THE OFFICE (UK version) -- This BBC phenomenon is a cult sensation in the US and is one of the great comedies of all time. 12 episodes and a two-part finale are all available in one DVD box set, and if you haven't seen this yet, rush out and buy it immediately.

Other titles I wish our film was linked to? Election (one of the best films of the past ten years, featuring Holmes Osborne in a small role), Husbands & Wives, Of Mice & Men (Sinise/Malkovich version), Arrested Development (just because it might be the best thing EVER), Wonderland (Michael Winterbottom film), and Shampoo. I guess this list has sort of evolved into a list of some of my favorite things rather than "items" which might be" similar." Oh well. Any of these is closer to our movie than Girls Gone Wild: Endless Spring Break Volume One...

Sigh....

It's hard to know what to think. Almost a month has passed since our initial "release date." It has been 10 days since our second "release date." And still: the DVD is MIA.


I ordered one myself, on July 26th. That order is still "pending" and has not shipped. Others have e-mailed me with similar complaints. Those who attempt to order the film via the numerous retailers like Amazon and B&N will find it is on "backorder," meaning it will take 3 to 5 weeks to arrive. (The truth is, they don't have any copies in their warehouses, and they provide the "3 to 5 weeks" timeframe armed with nothing but blind hope. If, for whatever reason, they still don't have the DVDs by then, they will simply add another 3 to 5 weeks to the delay and continue to keep their fingers crossed....)

So what does all this mean? The good news is that the DVD will be available soon, for real. The only disapointing part is that most of the press coverage that we have received, such as full write-ups in the St. Louis Post-Dipatch and Kansas City Star, will be long forgotten by the time the DVD is actually available. To those who are frustrated, I offer my apologies. These things happen, and hopefully you will feel that it was worth the wait.

In the meantime, the good news is that Amazon has resumed their comically inept "Similar Items" listing for Living In Missouri. The latest additions:


JERKBEAST: okay, so this one is a Film Threat DVD, so at least there is SOME logic to it. I know next to nothing about this film, but I'm intrigued. Here, visit their website: www.jerkbeast.com


GIRLS GONE WILD: ENDLESS SPRING BREAK VOLUME 1: I give up. I have no earthly idea how video footage of drunken college girls on spring break is in any way similar to a 90 minute film about two best friends who have grown apart. Here is the official product description:

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the beach, the hottest Girls Gone Wild action continues, with The Best Of Endless Spring Break Volume 1! It's what everyone has come to love from Spring Break - the wildest parties, the hottest nightlife, and the sexiest young coeds out there.

"Whether they're showing it all off on the sand, or getting wild in the clubs, the girls don't get any sexier than they do on Spring Break. Watch all the uncensored action, raw, real, and uncut!"

In our film, there is really only one character who comes close to "going wild" and he doesn't do it by lifting up his shirt:



BEYOND DESIRE: Spanish period drama set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, so this one is a natural choice. In fact, I suspect that they ripped us off. The story of Elvira, Julio, and Pablo is practically a mirror image of the torrid love triangle formed by Amy, Ryan and Todd....


Finally, there is HEMINGWAY, the 1988 television mini-series starring Stacy Keach. I guess they must have thought the cover art looked kind of close.


For my next post, I think I'll suggest a list of films I wish they would include in their list of similar or related movies. (Hopefully I'll have my DVD by then...)